Closure member or the like



Feb. 6, 1962 G. 1.. ROBINSON CLOSURE MEMBER OR THE LIKE 2 SheetsSheet 1Filed June 50. 1958 INVENTOR. George L. Robinson m 3 W fi a I. M m: 9 F

Feb. 6, 1962 G. ROBINSON CLOSURE MEMBER OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed June 30, 1958 XIO'I E IOB INVENTOR. George L. Robinson 3,019,775CLOURE MEMBER R TIE LIKE George L. Robinson, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignorto Blaw- Knox Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware FiledJune 30, 1958, Ser. No. 745,492 4 Claims. (Cl. 122-498) This inventionrelates to a fluid-cooled closure member of the like for furnace andother services. More particularly, it pertains to a water-cooled furnacedoor, valve, wall section, or the like closure member such as might beutilized in open hearth steel or other furnaces and auxiliary equipmenttherefor.

In herein illustrated practices of this invention, used,

33%,775 Patented Feb. 6, l62

across the top and along the vertical sides of door 10. The bottomportion 12a of plate 12 with an integral bottom flange portion 13a maybe separately bent and Welded to plate 12 to complete the front memberof door inclusive of a continuous rearwardly extending outer peripheralflange 13.

for example, as doors for open hearth steel making furnaces, relativelysmooth plate or sheet front and back wall members are provided which mayreadily be formed from standard components of regular shape. Suchfurnace doors of this invention are secured against warping by elongatedstaying using members of arched cross section and available shape suchas angles or tubing halves. In such staying the preferably verticalpositioning thereof promotes cooling action provided by a fluid such aswater, or other heat exchange medium. And, in the fabrication of aclosure member of this invention, the stable edges of the stay elementmay readily be stitch welded to the inside of one of the plates and theother plate perforated, or slotted, adjacent the other extreme dimensionof the stay at its bend-so that it may be aflixed to the other plate atthat point through the perforations or slots, as by plug welds, whichenable the finish fabrication to be performed from the outside and atthe same time seal the interior space through which suchcoolant-preferably is passed. In this way, closure members of highquality can be provided at lower cost by means of this invention.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following description, and the accompanying drawings,which are illustrative only, in which FIGURE 1 is a front view of oneembodiment of this invention in the form of an open hearth furnace door,utilizing tubing halves as stay elements;

FIGURE 2 is a view in section taken along line IIII of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view in section taken along line IIIIII of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a front view of another embodiment of this invention in theform of a furnace door utilizing angles as stay elements;

FIGURE 5 is a view in section taken along line VV of FIGURE 4; 7

FIGURE 6 is a view in section taken along line VIVI of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is a front view of a closure member of this A second plate orinner wall member 14 forms the rear of door 19 and is also made of metalplate or sheet stock. Wall member 14 is shaped to provide a rearwardlyextending flange portion 15 connected thereto around the four edgesthereof and a transversely outwardly extending flange portion 16integrally connected to the flange portion 15. The plate 14 with itsflange portion 15 defines a lining recess 17 suitable for a refractorylining which may be made of firebrick or of plastic castable refractoryheld in part, if desired, by anchors of the kind shown in my UnitedStates Reissue Patent No. Re. 24,606, or by other means.

The outer edges of the flanges 13 inclusive of flange portion 13a and ofthe flanges 16, respectively, may be joined as by welding to provide aninterior space 18 between the plates 12 and 14 inclusive of the space inthe main body which is in open'communication with the space in theperipheral portions formed by the respective flanges. A coolant such aswater is preferably circulated through space 18 during the use of thedoor. Such coolant may be admitted to space 18 through an inlet fitting19 having a pipe 20 connected thereto and extending downwardly into theinterior of door 10. The cooling fluid may be discharged from space 18through a second fitting 21 in communication with the interior of door10. Pipes, flexible or otherwise, are normally connected to therespective fittings 19 and 21 during use.

. In the embodiment being described, an observation port 22 may beprovided in the form of a pipe welded to the edges of correspondinglysized openings in the front and back plates 12 and 14 respectively, toenable, for example, the condition of the back of a refractory lining inrecess 17 to be observed. In addition, a wicket liner pipe 23 may besecured'as by welding to the edges of correspondingly sized openings inthe front and back plates 12 and 14, respectively. The wicket is alignedwith a like opening through the refractory in recess 17 to enable theinterior of the furnace with which door It) is to be used to be observedand for other purposes such as the making of small additions or theremoval of samples by means of a sampling ladle. A wear plate 24 may beattached to the bottom of liner 23. Normally the port defined by pipe 22and the wicket defined by liner 23 are covered by respective coverswhich may be connected to an arm (not shown) pivotally hinged on a stud25 affixed 1 to front plate 12.

invention in the form of a slide valve such as might be used in areversing valve mechanism for an air duct in an open hearth furnace;

FIGURE 8 is a view in section taken along line VIIIVIII of FIGURE 7; and

FIGURE 9 is a partial view in perspective showing an alternative shapefor a bent member utilizable as a stay element in a practice of thisinvention.

Referring to FIGURES l to 3, inclusive, of the drawings, there isillustrated therein one embodiment of this invention in the form of afurnace door 10 for an open hearth steel making furnace. An eye member11 is provided afiixed to the top portion of door Ill to enable it to beraised and lowered. A front plate or wall member 12 is provided in theform of a plate or sheet of metal shaped as by stamping or bending intoa box-like form having an integral peripheral flange 13 connectedthereto Door 10 is stayed by stay members 26 in the form of tubinghalves for strength andto inhibit buckling and distortion. Such tubinghalves preferably are made of a strength metal such as steel and in theembodiment shown are placed vertically in spaced parallel relation oneto the other within space 18, the radius of the tubing halves beingabout equal to the distance between front and back plates 12 and 14. Inthis way, when the longitudinal edges 27 of the arched stays 26- arefixed to the surface of plate 14facing forwardly toward space 18,

- at 29 by means of short slots, which may be formed therein byacetylene torch burning, in registry with the ridge or top element ofstays 26 farthest from the edges 27. Thus, if the stays 26 are affixedto plate 14 and the perforations 29 are made before plates 12 or 14 areassembled and joined together, the affixation of the stay members 26 tofront plate 12 may be readily performed by plug welding such stays toplate 12 from the front or outside of door it? and plate 12. Such plugwelds 36 also seal oif any access to space 18 except through thefittings 1? and 21. Normally, wash-out plugs (not shown) will beprovided in the end covers for the bottom peripheral flange portion totake care of cleaning out scale and dirt which settles in the spaceimmediately above flange portion 13a.

in the embodiment of this invention shown in FIG- URTE 4 to 6,inclusive, parts corresponding generally in construction and functioningare provided with the same reference numerals as those shown in theembodiment described above with the addition of a prime accent thereto.The door 19' may be utilized, for example, as a door suitable forcertain types of electric steel making or other etal refining furnaces.Therein, stays 26'are in the form-of angles having their respectivelaterally spaced toe edges 27' stitch welded to the front of back platel4. Perforations 29' in front wall member 12: are in the form ofcontinuous vertical slots into which the bends or corners 28 of stays 25may extend slightly if desired prior to the affixation of the stays 2-26to plate 12' by plug welding. Such plug welding fills the slots 2)" withweld metal 38 and seals off space 13 to provide the water-tightintegrity of door 19. Wash-out plug fittings 31 opening through. thesides or vertical portions of flanges 13 are normally closed by plugsuntil a clean out is effected.

lthough the stays shown in the embodiments of FEGURES 1 and 4respectively have their s aced edge portions affixed to the rear of theback plate, it will be understood that one or more, or all, of suchstays may instead be affixed to the rear face of the front plate. Anystay so aflixed by its edges to a front plate would have its top orridge portion adjacent the rear plate and the rear plate in thosecircumstances would preferably be slotted in registry with such topportions for plug welding or aflixation by other means to thedoor'structure. The provision herein of such stays in generally verticalposition facilitates circulation of the cooling 'medium. Further, thenew construction provides great resistance against buckling ordistortion, utilizes components of standard shapes, minimizes formingoperations, prevents shifting of the respective plate wall members onerelative to the other and provides a realtively low cost fabrication andassembly construction. Additionally, the embodiment of smooth relativelyuninterrupted plates as wall members inhibits the accretion of hot metalsplatter deposits or other material accumulations upon the exteriorsurfaces of the wall members of the new doors or other closure membersof this invention.

A still further embodiment of a closure member of this invention isillustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8 showing a valve 10% which may beutilized, for example, in a reversing valve mechanism in a regenerativecombustion air system for an open hearth or other kind of furnace. Valve1% is provided with a lifting clevis 161 affixed to the top thereof bymeans of which it may be moved up and down over, or across, a valveseat. A plate-like front wall ltlzand rear wall 133 are provided inspaced parallel relation and affixed to one another by stays res whichin construction and functioning are like the bent stay members 26.

The stays 104 are alternately reversed so that the toe edges of thelaterally outer stays are afiixed to plate 103,

while the toe edges of the middle stay 194 are aflixed to front plate102. As a consequence, front plate 102 is provided with two slots 165,while back plate N3 is provided with one slot 105a. In the valveembodiment, the respective slots are utilized in connection with plugwelding to fasten the respective tops of the respective stays to therespective plates in proximate relation thereto.

The space 1% between the plates 1% and 193 is enclosed by a peripheralmember 1437 joined to the peripheral edges of the respective plates 102and 163 in continuous uninterrupted fashion. As shown, the forward edge168 and rearward edge 1d? of peripheral member 14)! extend beyond theplates 1% and 103 respectively in directions normal thereto. A coolingfluid may be introduced into the interior space 196 of closure member 1%through a fitting supplied by an inlet pipe 111, while exiting coolantmay pass out through a fitting 112.

' Bracket guards 117 are provided for the fittings 110 and 112 andrespective pipes are connected thereto which extend through openings insuch guards.

A coolant pipe 113 extends downwardly in the embodiment being describedfrom fitting 11% to a manifold $14 which has branch discharge openings115 along the length thereof within space 106. Wash-out plugs 116 areprovided in the bottom of member bill) for clean-out purposes. Theassembly of the respective component parts is such that the space 1% isfluid-tight, save for the intended communication therewith through thefittings lit) and 112. Advantages discussed in connection with theembodiments respectively shown in FIGURES l and 4 inure to theconstruction of closure member 1% shown in FIGURE 7.

in the partial embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 9, a stay elementmodification is illustrated which may be used if desired. As showntherein, a stay 12.0 for a closure member of this invention may beprovided with a bent or arched cross section which is angular in theFIGURE 9 illustration. The edges of the arched stay member 120 may benotched at 121 in a stamping or other operation leaving projections 122at intervals along the respective edges for attachment to a wall member123 by stitch welding 124 or other securing means. The top 125 may besecured to the other wall member 126 as by plug welding 127 filling aperforation 128 in registry with top 125 and sealing, if desired, thespace between the plates 123 and 126. Indeed, another advantage of allembodiments is that the shaping, cutting and fitting of the respectiveparts may be readily quickly done without need for undue care orprecision requiring too skilled labor. 7

The terms vertical, top, bottom, sides, front, back and the like usedherein are relative rather than absolute terms. Further, various changesin details of the illustrated embodiments may be provided and variousother embodiments and uses, e.g., as a furnace fixed wall section, maybe made without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scopeof the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a water-cooled furnace door or the like for metallurgical furnacesor the like, apparatus comprising, in combination, a substantially flatfront plate having a rearwardly extending peripheral flange, asubstantially flat imperforate back plate having a rearwardly andtransversely outwardly extending peripheral flange, said plates beingbehind one another in parallel spaced relation, means for joining theedges of said respective flanges to enclose the space within saidplates, the rear face of said back plate with the rearwardly extendingportion of its flange forming a refractory lining recess, a plurality ofgenerally vertical lengths of arched stays having laterally spaced toeedges and a bend in front of said toe edges in generally triangularlyspaced relation thereto endwise, said respective toe edges being eachwelded to the front face of the back plate over a major portion of theheight thereof, a plurality of generally vertical slots extendingthrough said front plate in registry with the bend of each of said staysrespectively, said bends being welded through said slots to said frontplate from the outside thereof, said last-named welds sealing said slotsto seal the space between said plates, said stays terminating short ofsaid peripheral flanges and having at least the end and intermediateportions of each stay weld afiixed to said plates respectively, andmeans communieating with said space for the circulation of watertherethrough.

2. In a fluid-cooled closure member or the like for metallurgicalfurnaces or the like, apparatus comprising, in combination, a pair ofsubstantially flat spaced plates each having a peripheral edge, meansfor joining said peripheral edges of said respective plates to enclosethe space therebetween and define a cooling chamber, a plurality ofgenerally elongated stays having a bent cross section with laterallyspaced edges lying generally in one plane and a bend portion farthestfrom said edges and lying generally in a second plane, said bend portionand edges in a stay being in generally triangularly spaced relation whenviewed endwise, each of said stays having said transversely spaced edgesfixed by welds inside said chamber to an imperforate portion of one ofsaid plates and its bend portion adjacent to a portion of the other ofsaid plates respectively, said last-named plate portion having at leastone opening in registry respectively with said bend portion of each stayrespectively, and means for afiixing said bend portion of each stay toits adjacent last-named plate portion through said opening by weldswhich also close said opening respectively, said stays terminating shortof said peripheral edges and having at least the end portions of eachstay weld affixed to said plates respectively.

3. A closure member or the like as set forth in claim 2 having at leastone of said stays with its edges faced in a direction opposite to theedges of another of said stays, with said edges of said stay faced insaid opposite direction fixed by welds inside said chamber to animperforate portion of said other of said plates and its bent portionadjacent to a portion of said one of said plates having at least oneopening in registry with said bent portion and afiixing the same throughsaid opening by a weld which also closes said opening.

4. In a fluid-cooled closure member for furnaces or the like, apparatuscomprising, in combination, a pair of spaced generally parallel plateshaving peripheral edges connected together to enclose and define a fluidcooling chamber between said plates, a plurality of inclined stays ofbent cross section within said chamber having a bend and laterallyspaced longitudinal edges to provide respective weld connectionportions, said respective portions being in generally triangularlyarranged opposed relation when viewed endwise, each stay having one ofits Weld connection portions weld connected to one of said plates insidesaid chamber and the other of its Weld connection portion plug welded tothe other of said plates, said other of said plates having at least oneplug welding opening therethrough in juxtaposition to and in alignmentwith said other of its weld connection portions, said plug weld beingeifected from the outside of said other of said plates through saidopening to complete the afiixation of said stay and seal said chamber,said stays terminating short of said peripheral edges and having atleast the end portions weld connected to said plates respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,168,647 Knox Ian. 18, 1916 1,775,819 Fischer et al. Sept. 16, 19301,836,784 Williams Dec. 15, 1931 2,211,544 McDonnell Aug. 13, 19402,396,976 Whitehurst Mar. 19, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,019,775

February 6 1962 George L. Robinson It is hereby certified that errorappears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that thesaid Letters Patent should read as corrected below Column 5, line 15,for "transversely" read laterally Signed and sealed this (SEAL) Attest:

7th day of August 1962.

DAVID L. LADD Commissioner of Patents

